Re: Who wants a new Alfa?

[George Graves <gmgraves@domain.elided>]

On Monday, September 9, 2002, at 09:39  AM, alfa-digest wrote:

> Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 19:52:20 -0700 (PDT)
> From: James Montebello <jamesm@domain.elided>
> Subject: Re: Who wants a new Alfa?
>
> On Sun, 8 Sep 2002, Robert Clauss wrote:
> > Probably not too many people. The enthusiasts do, and I probably 
> > would, but
> Actually, *this* enthusiast doesn't want a new Alfa.  Nothing the 
> company
> is currently producing pushes my buttons.  They're nice to look at, in
> many cases, but the underpinnings aren't all that interesting anymore.
> I don't want a 164 for many of the same reasons.  It's not so much
> that I'm against fwd (I've owned a great many "pullers"), but there's
> nothing much in any of them to connect them with the Alfas I have now.
> There was a significant break with the past with the 164.
Fair enough, but I suspect that if you actually drove a new Alfa, say a 
156 GTA, you'd change your mind. But maybe not.

> I miss simple cars.  My next Alfas will all be older than the ones I
> have now.  A Giula Super and a 750/101 Sprint are on my list.  Nice,
> simple cars.  I don't mind some electronics (basic ignition and fuel
> control are good things, as is variable valve timing).  But the things
> BMW, M-B, et al are sticking in cars now (stability control, traction
> control, nav systems, 20+ speaker stereos, etc) are not my cup of tea.
Mine either. Its nice you can turn 'em off, though.


> Even a Milano has too many doodads to interest me.  Nothing but 
> trouble.
> Trying to keep most of that working for 25 years will be a huge 
> headache.
You certainly have a point there. OTOH, if one switches these things 
off, one won't notice that they quit working some years ago. I 
certainly agree about some of this stuff.  Anti-lock braking has been 
around long enough now, for us to see that while it works very well 
when new, on cars 10 years old or so, it becomes dangerous, and most 
people end up having to disable the feature.

> james montebello
> '84 gtv6
> '78 alfetta coupe
George Graves
'86 GTV-6
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